Encouraging students to socialize at an early stage can prevent loneliness

Loneliness is a common problem among students. However, encouraging students to socialise at an early stage can improve the well-being of this group. This is evident from an experiment with a new preventive intervention developed by researchers at Radboud University. Their findings are published today in economics journal ESB.

Previous research by the Trimbos Institute has shown that 65 per cent of university students feel somewhat to very lonely. This loneliness not only affects students' mental health, but also influences their academic performance and career prospects. In response to these figures, various initiatives have been set up within universities to improve students' mental well-being, but little is known about the effectiveness of these initiatives.

Cooking or walking together

“Due to cutbacks in higher education, it is important that the initiatives chosen can be demonstrably successful. That is why we developed and evaluated REconnect for students at Radboud University,” explains Jana Vyrsastekova, one of the authors. 'REconnect is an intervention that universities can use preventively to reduce loneliness among students. It aims to strengthen social ties and inclusion before loneliness becomes chronic."

Students who participated in the intervention were invited to take part in a five-week programme. Natascha Wagner, co-author and also affiliated with Radboud University: 'This included three plenary meetings with speakers who talked about their own setbacks. In addition, randomly assembled groups of students were given challenges to carry out together. Groups of four or five students were put together via WhatsApp and encouraged to cook or go for a walk together, for example.

Life satisfaction increases

The research results on the success of the intervention are very encouraging, according to Vyrastekova. “The students who participated experienced more loneliness on average than a control group beforehand. Eighty percent of the participants indicated that they were participating 'to meet new people”. Afterwards, the average life satisfaction of this group was found to have increased significantly compared to before the intervention. Loneliness also decreased slightly. '

Mental health is still a taboo subject among many students. Many will not readily ask for support themselves because of the stigma surrounding mental well-being. That is why REconnect aimed to be as accessible as possible. Afterwards, it became clear that this appealed to students. One of them said: 'The nice thing about this specific project is that you know that the other people are open to making new friends, otherwise they wouldn't be there, and that makes it easier!

Vyrastekova: “Improving student wellbeing requires a comprehensive approach, and one programme is not enough. But we hope that our findings are a concrete example of how you can reduce loneliness even with limited resources.”